Deirdre Girard

Maddie is making the transition from Crime Beat Journalist to Crime Fiction writer, and is thrilled when best-selling mystery author Heather Bowman takes her under her wing and invites her to join a Mystery Writers group. But when a stalker begins to prey on Heather, the lines between fact and fiction and between friend and foe start to fray, and Maddie is determined to find out who is terrorizing Heather before the situation escalates.

Crime Fiction is a story of obsession that examines how perspectives are formed based on our current understanding of the truth. But when that truth changes, or is manipulated, our perspectives change with it. If recollections are fluid, how can we ever know what is real? Fortunately, Crime Fiction is a suspenseful mystery full of twists and turns, with a lightly comedic undertone, so finding out is really fun, and only the beginning of the journey.

Anna, looking for peace and anonymity, moves to a small seaside town only to find herself enmeshed in a group of women who offer her companionship, but also insidiously demand she lift the cloak of secrecy that protects her from scrutiny.

Group is a drama with a mystery at the center that celebrates women. It examines the nature of female friendship and the current climate regarding mental health, as Anna’s presence in the group disrupts the way the other women see themselves and each other when their convictions are put to the test.

Short and Scary II is a full evening of ten-minute horror plays perfect for summer theater or the Halloween season; they also work well for radio and episodic filming. This new series is a follow-up to the successful Short and Scary collection of plays, published by Next Stage Press.

These ten ghostly and mysterious little stories with a feminist twist include A House With Good Bones, where a locked closet reveals a terrifying secret; If You See Her, pitting Ben’s belief that their house is haunted against his wife Maggie’s pragmatism; Pop Up, in which Marie enters a store that mysteriously appears out of nowhere; The Third Roommate, featuring the very angry ghost of the previous tenant; Protector, taking us inside a haunted house where a journalist has accepted a challenge to spend the night; Cruelty free, turning the tables on an abusive parole officer; A Year to Grieve, probing the lines between fact and fiction for two writers in an isolated cabin; Shelter, forcing a mother to decide if a stranger is her daughter’s savior or pursuer; The Haunting Package, bringing a romantic weekend to a funny and frightening conclusion; and Soulmate, capturing a chance meeting on a train between a psychic and a police officer that is as heartbreaking as it is shocking.

Women at the Center is a full evening of ten-minute plays that tell women’s stories. Heading Toward Tiki Villa introduces us to Emma, who is just about to walk away from the one person who might actually make her happy. The Kids from the Lake takes a more serious turn as Ashley struggles with the secret that caused her to flee from her old friends. In You’re Home Now, Gloria is pretty sure she’s been kidnapped, but she’s just a little bit hesitant to make that 911 call. Claire takes a job cleaning a local mansion in In the Buff, hoping to unlock the mystery of her mother’s obsession with the place. A Hedge Against Loneliness finds Elizabeth contemplating an unconventional choice that’s out of keeping with her rather conventional life. Jennifer is doing everything she can to extricate herself from a hilariously out of control relationship in Breaking Up is Hard to Do. In Little Black Mark, Mia fights the tyranny of perfection with the help of her robotics skills. Julia seems like she’s got it all together in Because You’re Julia until a knock on the door sends her into a heart-pounding tailspin. And Are You One of Those Robots ends the evening with Ruth trying desperately to reconnect with her estranged daughter before it’s too late.

Rose meets her soulmate in 1900 but after a devastating experience gives up her career ambition and marries another man. She’s reincarnated in 1962 as a gifted journalist who fights the control of society but loses some of her humanity in the process. Finally, in the present day, she has learned what she needs in order to fulfill her personal and professional destiny as women fight to maintain their reproductive rights.

10-minute. Bethany is delighted with her surprise anniversary weekend— until the hotel room seems to have a mind of its own...

10 minutes. The mysterious Lorna no longer uses her psychic ability on stage, but Jerry tempts her into one last reading that changes the course of his life…

10-minute. Best-Selling author Heather is excited that she’s finally finished writing her newest mystery novel, until one of her writing group members starts talking about the plot of his next book, which sounds frighteningly familiar...

10-Minute. Heather seeks medical help for an out of control fungus, but the treatment plan seems to get more and more bizarre...

Ella has big plans for the three sisters she’s located who were fathered by the same sperm donor. She’s gathered them together for a long weekend at an abandoned girl’s camp on a lake, but nothing goes according to plan. At least her plan. Jenna can barely be bothered to show up, Anna thought she was going to a luxury retreat, and Alison doesn’t want to accept anything less than her own perfect family. It might have all worked anyway except for Anna discovering the secret of why Ella really wanted them there. And then there’s the ghost trying to lure them into the lake.

10 minute. Becca thinks her mother needs to get out of her boring suburban rut, until she starts to notice that something about her mother’s life doesn’t quite add up…

Lunch lady Jessie, “the toughest bitch you’ll ever meet,” is content living in her rough and tumble South Boston neighborhood, working hard to give her daughter Lynn a better life, and helping her best friend Maggie navigate issues with a deadbeat brother and lack of available men. Then a humbling class reunion and her daughter’s imminent departure for college cause her to question what she has accomplished in life, driving Jessie to expand her world by hosting patients and their families who need treatment at the nearby Mass General Hospital. Tensions build as Jessie pushes aside old relationships and risks losing her beloved home to pursue the volunteer work that not only makes her feel worthwhile, but also brings sweet and sophisticated Lenny into her life. But Jessie is sure love isn’t for people like her, and retreats back into the routine of her blue-collar community— until committing to love becomes a matter of life and death.

Short and Scary is a full evening of ten-minute horror plays perfect for summer theater or the Halloween season; they also work well for episodic filming.

These nine ghostly stories with a feminist twist include Under the Bed, teasing us with what’s coming, making it even more frightening; Camp Lumberjack, introducing us to the mysterious Heloise who finds herself trapped in a haunted camp; The Perfect Boyfriend, opening with Abby terrified because someone broke in and cleaned her apartment; Whispering to the Dead, featuring a perfect first date until Kyle finds out what Elise does for a living; 15 Minutes in a Haunted House, taking us on a journey that ends very badly for Matt; The Rest of Your Life, turning the tables on a would-be killer; The Night Visitor, probing the demons that follow us; Take My Place, driving Olivia mad with cries from the attic that never end; and Ghost Pond, bringing new friends together until the local ghost stories tear them apart. A callback to Under the Bed ends the evening.

10 minutes. Live, Zoom or Radio compatible. Tele-Nurse Ruth is worn out by life, responding by rote to the sometimes desperate callers who need her medical advice, until one call pushes her out of her indifference and into a world she never thought she’d embrace.

Winner/Audience Favorite, SlamBoston 2019. Selected by Boston Theater Marathon, Barrington Stage 10x10, Theatre Three NY, Firehouse Center for the Arts New Works Festival and numerous Zoom productions.

10 minute. Bombastic Danny barges over to his new neighbor Michael’s house determined to
stop Michael’s son from feeding the wild turkeys, because it will only encourage them to encroach further. Michael resists— his son is autistic and loves feeding the birds he considers pets. Only when mild-mannered Michael finally blows up does Danny unwittingly reveal information that can change Michael's life...

10 minute: It took a lot for Ashley to come back to the lake, but as much as she wants to run away, one thing is keeping her there.

10 minutes. Heloise has been lost driving for hours, is utterly exhausted, and the only place to stay for the night seems to be a campground reputed to be haunted by a lumberjack who roams around with his axe as Halloween approaches…

10-minute. Lizzy and Bobby are over the top excited about their new home— until a handyman makes a gruesome discovery.

10-minute. Amanda’s just gone through a tough divorce, and she has no energy left for another big family Christmas— until she stumbles upon her daughter’s old Elf on the Shelf…

10 minute. Elise and Kyle feel like they’ve each finally found someone normal on a dating site until Elise reveals her habit of whispering to the dead...

It is the middle of the night and Andrea knows what’s coming if she fails to protect her children…

10 minute. Is Olivia just a bit anxious, or does she really hear a young girl crying in her attic when no one else is around?

10 minute. Tony is completely devastated by his breakup with Jennifer, but she’s desperate to extricate herself from the whole crazy ordeal...

Angela is terrified that her apartment is so damn clean all the time—because she sure isn’t picking up.

10 minutes. Maddie and Abby accept a dare to spend 15 minutes in a haunted house, but when Maddie's boyfriend Matt doesn't play by the rules, they flip the tables on him thinking it's all fun and games, that is until...

Mattie’s fears are over the top after being mugged by a very hairy man, but there’s no way he would be hiding under her bed…

10-Minute. Misty wakes up to find her entire world has changed and her husband is not the kind and friendly man everyone thought he was...

Nora appears to be in complete control, with a charming husband, great job and lovely daughter. But her life is hanging on by a thread, and her only hope lies in the possibility of regaining the personal power she has been shedding little by little throughout her life.

Despite her inclination to fight her demons on her own, Amanda is slowly drawn into the tight family unit of the bombastic Marcie and her charming brother Dave. But both women share a secret they keep from Dave, the secret that brought them together, while hiding much of their own pasts from each other. What begins as friendship among the three, and turns to love between Dave and Amanda, ultimately becomes explosive as their lies are stripped away. Resettling is a drama about the complexity of relationships and the human soul, about the families we form and reform to survive, and about moving forward when that seems impossible.

10 Minutes. Love/Valentine's Day Themed. Emma’s just broken up with a total jerk and the last thing she needs is to be hit on by Dave, a pretty unremarkable guy who is convinced he has cute dimples. But somehow Dave is getting under her skin, making her re-evaluate her entire take on men, and leaving her determined to control her own future—which may very well involve finding her way to Tiki Villa.

Rachael isn’t speaking to her best friend, and her foster mother (while amusing) is severely challenged in the role model department. Both of which leave Rachael feeling profoundly lonely and isolated as she deals with the most devastating problem of her troubled life. Only in her books and her imagination does she find the comfort and strength to reconnect with her community, speak up, and finally reclaim her dignity.

Beth’s been living under an assumed name in rural Vermont after fleeing Boston eight years earlier in the wake of her imminent arrest for a horrific crime. But when her half sister Jasmine unexpectedly shows up armed with a law degree and breakthrough medical research, the two women begin a journey that explores the nature of justice and truth in a biased world— a journey that will change their relationship forever.

Ashley has recently returned to the Boston housing project where she was born. Her old friend, and now boyfriend, Jake is thrilled that she’s back from the upscale foster home she’d been living in, even though it means she had to give up her dream of going to Berklee college of music. He takes her to his favorite place, a dilapidated and abandoned underground music hall, where the play unfolds. Here Ashley slowly regains her confidence, and begins to sing again, while Jake and his cousin Chuck move illegal cargo in and out of the building. In this sacred space, secrets emerge—why Ashley is running away from her foster family, why she stopped singing, and what exactly is in the boxes Jake and Chuck are moving. The answers converge in an explosive ending that may destroy them all. This play is inspired by the actual Steinert hall in Boston—by the idea that no matter how much we may want to bring a historic building back to life or see a young adult reach their potential, sometimes that can’t happen. But there is still inherent life, beauty and nobility. Little Jewel is a fast paced gritty drama focused on issues of economic disparity, and infused with love, betrayal, mystery, and jazz.

Amelia has just been through a nasty divorce and ended up with her luxury condo in Boston and the Duplex she and her husband rented out in the gritty, fading mill town of Haverhill. She has absolutely no idea how to be a landlord, but is called out in the middle of the night after her tenant Cynthiana’s dog Tammy (also known as Tam Tam) is killed by a coyote. Slowly, the sophisticated but vulnerable Amelia is drawn into the blue collar world of her tenants— quirky Cynthiana with her baffling sense of entitlement and the mysterious and charming Kyle. The unlikeliest of friendships develop, along with a brutal betrayal and surprising notes of grace. Duplex is a comedy with edge-- it takes on economic disparity and predators of all kinds— the ones we can live with and the ones we can’t.

Hanna, a brutally blunt international journalist, is struggling to come to terms with her husband’s violent death. After accepting a seemingly tame assignment, she becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the history of another Hannah: the infamous Hannah Dustin who was kidnapped by a Native American raiding party in 1697. Soon the individual stories of the two Hanna(h)s begin to merge into one portrait of a smart woman, torn from the only world she knows, who crosses the line between civilization and savagery. RECONSIDERING HANNA(H) questions the truth of our historical and personal narratives, examines the dormant primitive instincts that can erupt in the hearts of individuals and cultures, and takes us on a journey across the centuries with two unflinching women who desperately seek their own salvation.

Maddie, Claire, Marie and Sherry all decide to take a risk in the middle of their lives and open a café together after their friend Phil makes their dream possible far sooner than they thought. It’s a bit of a risk personally and financially, though the only real issues seem to be Claire’s half-imagined rivalry with Maddie for Phil’s affection, and Marie’s refusal to entertain any menu item that might appeal to the loathsome “Foodies.” But soon the secret that brought these women together resurfaces, threatening not only the viability of the Café, but their very freedom. Widow’s Walk examines the complex bonds that tie us to relationships, especially when those bonds are strained by unwelcome insights and desperate circumstances.

10 minute. Claire takes a job cleaning a local mansion in hopes of unlocking a mystery about her mother who once worked there and the father she lost in Afghanistan. With the help of the owner’s son Andy, she learns more about her parents—and herself—than she expected.